15 Months

Well, I'm officially 15 months old now. I weighed myself yesterday and I weigh 27.8 lbs. I'm growing like a weed!!

I got yet another tooth a couple days ago. This one is my top left cuspid. I think I'm up to 12 teeth total now. I'm working on both of my lower cuspids now and my gums are SO swollen! I can't wait until this teething business is over and done with.

I'm learning to feed myself with a spoon/fork now. The first few times I tried, most of the food ended up on my tray and the front of my bib. I've pretty much got it figred out now. As long as I open my mouth as wide as I possibly can the majority of the food makes it in.









I'm starting to talk more and more and randomly repeat things Mommy and Daddy say. They are learning very quickly to watch what they say! I have a few stuffed monkeys that I love and I often hand them to Mommy and say "beep-o". She'll ask me to say "monkey" over and over and "beep-o" is what comes out every time. Getting the right sounds to come out of my mouth is hard work! I'm figuring out how to communicate better each day though. I've added "no" to my head shake when I don't want something so I'm making some progress. Daddy also taught me to say "boo". When someone says "peek a" I say "boo"!

Of course, I still LOVE walking. I'm very particular about which finger I hold onto when I'm walking with someone. It has to be the pointer finger on their right hand, in my right hand. I will sit down and pout if you try to hold my hand any other way. We don't have to do that as often now though because...I've finally learned to walk with my walker!! Now that I've figured this out, I pretty much just walk and walk and walk ALL day. I occasionally stop to play with something but the walker is always by my side so I can grab it and go easily.

Sometimes I will stop walking and let go and just practice standing there. Mommy encourages this by getting me to stop and clap while I'm standing. Whenever I clap, I squat down to make sure I have my balance. Of course, I'm very proud of myself and always look around smiling to see if anyone was watching me. As shown in the picture to the left, I also squat when I need to turn the walker.

When I'm not walking, I still prefer to crawl with some type of footwear on my hands. Mom and Dad have noticed I am also particular about which hand the shoes are on... the left shoe MUST be on my left hand and the right on my right. If you put the shoes on the wrong hands I will stop, furrow my brow, and immediately change them to the correct hand. I can even instantly tell the difference with Mommy's slippers that she has to examine before putting on because they both look the same!

I have two new videos of my walking with my walker. Be sure to watch them both!

Click here to watch Day 1 of me walking with my walker!

Click here to watch Day 3 of me walking with my walker!

The past couple weeks...

Well, I'm still not quite walking yet but am SO close. Walking is my absolute favorite thing to do, but I have to convince someone to hold my hands while I do it. The other day Mommy and I went to the park and walked around for an hour and a half straight! I can walk by myself but won't. Sometimes when Mommy is holding my hand she'll let go and I don't notice and keep walking anyway. As soon as I realize her hand is gone I just sit down. One of these days maybe I'll get brave and just walk off on my own.

I've got my third molar now and am working on the 4th, along with a cuspid... ouch!

Every now and then my Mom takes care of our neighhbors' twin babies. Because of them I have a new word. Whenever I see them I say "baby"! Actually, it sounds more like "bay-bay" but I know what I mean. I say "up" ALL the time now. Anyone who is standing around will most likely find me standing at their leg with my arms outstretched saying "up, up, up". Even though they may not want to pick me up, nobody can resist how cute I look and sound when I'm saying it :-)

One of my favorite things to do is play on the couch. Its another great way to put my "up" word to use. I love to climb and have figured out how to get up on the foot stool and then onto the couch by myself. Once I'm up there I like to go back and forth across the couch and sometimes just sit there next to whoever happens to be there. Its also my favorite place to have my afternoon snack. Daddy taught me how to get down safely which makes it much less stressful for Mommy.

I discovered a new hilarious activity today. I put a dishtowel on my head and crawl all over the house. I go really fast and laugh the whole time. I hope I don't bump into anything...










Be sure to go to http://www.joeandmarinda.com/ to see more new pictures of me!

My first haircut

I got my first haircut on New Year's Eve. Even though she liked my curls, Mommy said my hair was too patchy and I had to cut it off so it can grow back even. Mommy cut off the curls above my ears for my baby book and then Dad buzzed my whole head. I brushed my teeth the whole time to keep myself distracted.












I look so grown up now!

In other news, my second molar broke through today! It's on my bottom left side. I thought maybe I'd get a little break but there are two more trying to come through on the other side. Teething is such hard work!

Christmas

My second Christmas was a lot of fun! Granddad and Aunt Lacey came and stayed at our house for a few days. Grandma and Uncle Gar came over on Christmas day and we opened presents...I got so many new toys! Mom and Dad think the toys are going to completely take over our house any day now.


Check out http://www.joeandmarinda.com/ to see more Christmas pictures.

Arctic Blast '08

We've been having a HUGE snowstorm the past few days. We've gone out in the snow a few different times and I really don't like it!

We had a foot of snow at the end of the storm!

The Latest...

It's been a while since my last post and I'm doing a few new things now. First of all, I pull myself up on everything. I like to put my toys up on the couch and stand there and play with them. I still love walking holding someone's hands and now like to walk with my walker too but I still haven't taken a step on my own.

My other new favorite thing... I LOVE to climb the stairs. As soon as the gate comes down I beeline for the stairs and climb right up. I'm very quick and think its hilarious, laughing the whole time.








I've added a few new words to my vocabulary. I say "'moo", "baa", and just yesterday started saying "quack". I say "yeah" a lot as well as "up", which I especially like to whisper. Of course, "ah oh" is still my favorite!

I'm also really into clapping, Anytime I hear someone say "yay" I start clapping :-)

I really like to read now too. I will sit and read a book by myself for a long time but especially like Mommy and Daddy to read to me. Moo, Baa, La La La was my favorite book for a long time (and the only one I would let anyone get through) but now there are a few different ones that I always choose. I have a favorite page in The Belly Button Book. Its a page with a song on it and now whenever we pick up that book I flip through to that page and start dancing. We have to sing that page 9 or 10 times each night before bed :-)

I have 8 teeth now! I have my 4 front top teeth, 3 bottom front, and 1 molar! Nobody even knew I was getting a molar and one day Mommy looked in my mouth and there it was! I'm working on another molar and my 4th bottom front as we speak. I chew on my fingers constantly and keep getting a rash around my mouth from all the drool. I can't wait till I'm done teething!

I really like all different kinds of music and LOVE to dance. Anytime I hear any music at all I start movin' and shakin'. Click this link to watch me dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9mNCWZzvVI&fmt=18

Slipper Hands

My absolute favorite thing to do is crawl around with slippers or shoes on my hands. I do this ALL day long and have been for the last week or so. If I go to play with a toy I take the slippers with me, set them down by my toy, then put them back on my hands to crawl on to the next thing. I've always been fascinated with people's shoes and am constantly staring at feet when we are out and about. I am also very particular about keeping pairs together. If there is a big pile of different shoes/slippers together I always pick out a pair to crawl around with. I will sometimes carry only one around but never mix and match pairs. Slippers are my favorite but I'll try out anybody's shoes at least once!

Check out our family website to see me in action!
http://picasaweb.google.com/joelariz/KasenNov08#